Dominant Narratives and School Choice – An Analysis of Newspaper Articles

• In Event: 41021 - Student Forum Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 20: Critical Media Studies

Abstract

Over the last several years, many states have expanded their laws to enhance school choice options, often aimed at improving educational opportunities for all children. Despite the recent expansion of school choice policy in many states, Connecticut has long had public school choice options that aim to address racial and economic segregation. In fact, the robust interdistrict magnet school program in Connecticut is due to a state Supreme Court decision – Sheff v. O’Neill – in 1996, which declared that Connecticut’s education system was segregated racially and economically. The decision motivated an expansion of magnet schools in the state, which rely on parents to choose interdistrict magnet schools rather than attend their locally zoned school. While research on school choice tends to examine policies or interview parents about the school choice process, few studies examine how school choice is discussed within our cultural institutions that lead both individuals, and governments, to consider school choice expansion. The study presented here draws on a sample of articles from the Hartford Courant, Connecticut’s largest newspaper, from January 2016 through December 2021 to evaluate the dominant narratives around the magnet schools in Hartford, Connecticut. The analysis provides insights into the dominant narratives around school choice and desegregation that parents navigate when choosing to enroll, and keep their child enrolled, in magnet schools in the state of Connecticut. Additionally, the framing of these schools provides insights into the narratives that politicians may use when advancing educational policy as well. Overall, the data from this study will help us to better situate literature on parental school choice as well as policymakers’ advocacy for school choice policies within the cultural narratives available to them.

Author

• Mairead Carr, University at Albany, SUNY